When he hunts
by JoonBug
Summary: When Edward returns from the hunt, he doesn’t find Bella in the same condition her left her in.
1. Chapter 1

After being on the hunt for three days with Emmett and Jasper this time I missed my Bella more than usual. I couldn't wait to come home and be wrapped into her loving warm arms. The thought of her was the only thing getting me thru the last day.

Finally we pulled up to the house and the family came out to greet us. Jasper looked around suddenly "Where is Alice?" he questioned

"She's upstairs, she hasn't come out for two days." Esme answered

"You just left her alone? Did anyone check on her?" he demanded

"Jasper dear, she asked us to." Esme said as he flew into the house and up to their room

We made our way into the house and I immediately, picked up Bella's name from Alice's thoughts. I was now concerned.

I made my way up towards Alice's room. I felt as if she was blocking something from me.

I would have normally just gone straight to Bella's house upon returning but it was the early morning hours and she would be up soon anyway. I would be taking her breakfast. She seemed to enjoy that a lot.

"Alice? It's me, Jasper. Open the door please."

"Jasper!" she cried as she opened the door embracing him immediately. She never met my eyes

I hated to interrupt but if she had information about Bella, well I needed to know." Alice is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure Edward." She chirped

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well" she hesitated still holding onto Jasper "The last vision I had of Bella was a bit strange."

"How so? I asked, trying to remain calm

"She didn't disappear or anything, she just kind of faded out. That would be the best way to describe it."

As soon as those words were out of her mouth I was out the door and headed for Bella's. First thing I noticed was that her window was closed. I knocked on the front door and to my surprise Charlie answered it.

"Morning Edward. Bella's not up yet." He said turning to get his coffee "How was camping?" he continued

"It was fine Charlie. How has she been with me gone?"

"I couldn't say, been fishing the past few days down by the lake. My own little camping trip shall we say." He smiled

"When did you get back?" I continued

"Oh, late last night. Bells was in bed by then."

"So, you haven't actually talked to her?"

"No, but I'm sure she'll be down soon."

"May I go check on her Sir? I've just missed her so much." I asked hoping I wasn't sounding too desperate

"Well, she is asleep Edward. I'll go check." He volunteered and made his way up the stairs.

I listened to Charlie's thoughts; he was now realizing that he hadn't even checked on her last night. When he came home he recalled a few things seemed untouched. No dishes in the sink and a full milk carton.

I was now truly panicked but I had to wait for Charlie to wake her up. I should have just used that damn window.

"Bella?" he called, knocking on her door and then entering "Get up sleepy head!" he chuckled "Bella, honey?" worry in his voice "Edward!" he called out frantic I was up the stairs and in the room instantly

"She's got a fever." He said "But she's drenched in sweat"

"I'll call my father Charlie. Get some ice and a thermometer if you have one."

I flipped open my phone and called Carlisle at the hospital.

"Dr Cullen please. It's an emergency."

He was on the phone within a minute "Carlisle! It's Bella. She has a fever and is drenched in sweat. How high? Just a moment." I took the thermometer from Charlie and placed it into her ear.

"That can't be right," I murmured looking at the number that appeared

"What does it say Edward?"

"Wait an second, I'm trying the other ear." I looked at the number again "No, this thing is broken."

"What does it say?" he asked again

"105.3"

"Fill the tub with cold water, add ice to it if you can. Place her in it. I'm on my way." He said franticly

I repeated the directions to Charlie as he rushed to the bathroom to start the water. I gently picked her up and I took her to the tub. She made a small moan but that was all.

I placed her in the water and turned on the shower. I got in with her, after all I was ice cold and I wrapped my arms around her. When Charlie came in with the ice, he looked at my funny.

"I'm supposed to keep her head elevated out of the water. I'm also monitoring her pulse till my father arrives."

In less than 5 minutes there was a knock at the door. Charlie rushed to let Carlisle in. Soon Carlisle was up the stairs checking her vitals.

"I brought some medication to, help with the fever." He looked at Bella then addressed me" Has she just been like this?" he motioned to her silent form "Has she shown any response?"

"No, she hasn't responded. This is how we found her."

"How long has she been unresponsive?" he looked at Charlie and then me

"I don't know!" Charlie said as he began to sob

"Carlisle, she's been like this a couple of days at least. Alice said her visions of Bella went a bit fuzzy a few days ago, this is most likely why" I responded so low that it was inaudible to Charlie's ears.

Carlisle then took a small flashlight from his kit and opened one of Bella's lids. The pupil didn't respond to the light. He tried the other, with the same result.

"She'll be okay, wont she Carlisle?"

"I just don't know yet. We really need to get her down to the hospital, but I'm afraid to move her until her fever is down a bit."

_Good thinking by the way Edward he thought to me_

I gave a questioning look

_I mean you getting in the tub with her. Your cold like ice. Her fever will drop in no time, you'll see _

"What's wrong with her Dr Cullen?" Charlie asked concerned

"I cant be sure yet. I'll need to run some test once we get to the hospital." He said, "I am however going to draw some blood. Charlie, please hand me my bag."

Charlie moved to get the bag and Carlisle looked intently at me

_Can you handle this Edward, or do you need to leave. He thought_

"I can handle it," I whispered as I looked down at her flushed face.

With everything I've tried to save her from, Van's, psychotic vampires, this was the worst. Because I was totally helpless. There was nothing I could do to help her without taking away her life and soul.

I held my breath as I watched Carlisle draw blood from her lifeless body.

"We need to check her temperature again and get her out of these wet clothes" Carlisle directed

I pulled her up and stepped out of the tub

"Whose going to change her clothes?" Charlie asked nervously. It was obvious he didn't want to do it, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let me do it.

"I'll do it if it would make you feel better." Carlisle volunteered, after all he was a Doctor and a professional, but there was no need for his assistance.

At that moment there was a knock on the door and a little voice drifted up the stairs.

"Hello Charlie?"

"Thank you God!" Charlie said out loud "Alice, we're up here. We need your assistance."

"Anything Charlie. How is she?" Alice asked nervously

"We need to get her out of the wet clothes and dried off. Then Dr Cullen, sorry your Dad is going to check her temperature again It should have gone down by now."

"Edward take Bella to her room. I'll change her in there."

I looked at Alice's thoughts. They were still unclear. They were very mixed up and I couldn't make it out.

I waited as Alice just grabbed some old sweats and a t-shirt for Bella.

She must be really bad if Alice doesn't even care what clothes she picked.

The door closed and within a minute Alice had her changed and placed on the bed. She had pulled he comforter off since it was wet.

"Charlie, can you get Bella another blanket. This one is wet." He didn't even hesitate as he ran downstairs to retrieve another one.

"Where is the thermometer Edward?" I reached over to the dresser and handed it to Carlisle

"You're not going to need that." Alice moaned

"Why? What are you talking about?" I demanded

I watched as Carlisle put it in her ear, he looked at it and then placed it in the other ear.

"Normally I would have you run with her Edward, but with Charlie here we cant do that."

"What is it?" I begged frantically

"Bella's fever has gone up. We need to get her to the hospital now!"

Charlie had entered the room at that exact moment "What should we do?" he asked

"Well, we can call an ambulance or we can take her in my car with a police escort. Charlie, we'd be faster than an ambulance." Carlisle stated

"Then lets go." He yelled and went quickly over to Bella. He touched her forehead and looked panicked

"It's over 106 and rising." Carlisle informed him.

Carlisle picked Bella up, since I was still wet. I watched as he carried her down the stairs. I was nervous, not being able to hold her.

He placed her in the backseat with Alice, and I drove as Carlisle held her head in his lap.

"Hurry Edward" Alice cried as I picked up the speed. Charlie kept pace behind us.

Then I heard it. "Edward, pull over now!" Carlisle yelled

I did exactly as he directed, I turned to see Alice pulling something out of his bag as he rotated her sideways. He stuck a gauze wrapped instrument between her teeth and held her tight to him as she had a seizure. Soon it began to slow, and I punched the car into gear. We were at the hospital within minutes.

Carlisle was out of the car, and ran with her into the ER. As he passed the nurse, he called out "My son is behind me with several vials of blood. I want a CBC, type and cross match as a precaution."

I quickly handed the blood off to the nurse and turned to see Carlisle gone.

I started to move forward, when a small hand took mine. I spun around to see Alice. "Edward there's nothing more for you to do." Was all she said and she walked towards Charlie at the nurse's station.

He was trying to fill out some paperwork, but he was preoccupied." Here Charlie, let me do that." Alice volunteered, "Go check and see if you can get an update."

A Dr that wasn't Carlisle came out "Chief Swan?"

"Yes!" he said

"Do you know if your daughter is an organ donor?"

"I'm sorry, what are you talking about?" he asked nervously

"In the event of her death does she wish to grant the gift of life thru organ donation?"

"I can't believe your asking me this." He cried

"Please calm down. I know this is difficult."

"No, I'm sorry but you don't know what it's like to be hit up by some inept Doctor. Have some respect, she's not dead yet!" he yelled and then gasped at what he'd said

"Not dead yet" Charlie whispered as he walked off to the waiting area

The Doctor turned to leave and I followed close behind to pick up this thoughts

_I cant believe if have to deal with this shit. First Dr Cullen practically has a coronary when that poor girl flat lined, and now the father yelling at me for simply asking about organ donation_

I froze in place. I wasn't prepared for this. I hadn't really thought about her inevitable death.

All of those times I refused to change her. If I had, we wouldn't be here right now. We would be laughing and loving each other right now."

I felt Alice's hand on my shoulder and I grasped it. "Oh Alice what have I done." I bellowed, "Please can you see-"

"Edward, please don't ask me to say it." She begged

When I turned to meet her gaze, she looked away. "Is there nothing to be done?" I cried

"No Edward. Fate was pushed once too many times. There is no other chance for Bella. It's now of never." She said grimly

"What do you see in my future?" I asked, waiting for her to tell me that Bella is my future

"I can't say. It hasn't been decided yet."

Carlisle came out and found Charlie.

"She's in the Critical Care Unit, we had to restart her heart twice and we have intubate her for the present, but that is more precautionary than anything at this point."

_Please stay calm Edward. She is stable for now. He thought_

"Also we have managed to bring her fever down a bit and over the next several hours we are hoping for it to drop dramatically."

Charlie just looked at Carlisle dazed." Can I see her?" he asked as it sunk in how close he was to losing his only child.

"But what's wrong with her Carlisle?" I asked

"We still don't know, at this point we're just treating the symptoms as they come until the blood work comes back."

"She's at least awake?" I asked hopeful

"No, Edward I'm sorry she hasn't regained consciousness. She might not, we just don't know."

"When can we see her?" I motioned between Alice and myself

"After Charlie leaves for the night."

"What?" I said frantically

"The CCU is family only. I'll go up and ask Charlie if you two can visit."

"But he wont let-"

"Let me ask Edward, that's the best I can do for now, until much later."

I sat down next to Alice to wait. The horrid stench of werewolf suddenly permeated the room. I looked up to see Jacob Black's hard cold glare. But when he looked at me, really looked into my eyes his hard mask fell and the realization of concern replaced it

"How is she doing?" he asked

"It's not good Jacob. I'm very worried about her."

"But she will be okay, right?"

I just looked away and turned to Alice

"Not this time." Was all Alice said sadly


	2. Chapter 2

I watched as Jacob sat down across from Alice and I. He placed his head in his hands and thought it was his fault.

"Why do you think that?" I asked abruptly, stirring him from his concentration

"What?" he asked "Oh, yea I forgot you could do that." And he looked away

"Why would this be your fault Jacob?" I asked again. This time getting Alice's attention

"I don't think that." He responded too fast for honesty

"Jacob, what happened while I was away?" I asked anger invaded my voice

"We road our bikes." He said not meeting my eyes "That's all."

"But it was raining. When did you do this exactly?" Alice asked

"Bella came over after you left for your 'camping' trip" he said looking at me

"I couldn't see her, because she was with you." Alice stated quietly "Then when she finally came home, she must have been too sick and just went to sleep. That's why she was fuzzy in my visions. She was just sleeping."

"Don't you ever think about her safety!" I roared at Jacob

"Of course I do!" he spat back "I didn't know! She didn't say anything about not feeling well." He looked away "if I had known, I- I-" he began to sob quietly to himself

Charlie came down and saw Jacob waiting with us. "I'm heading home for the night. I spoke to your father Edward and told him it would be okay with me if you saw Bella. I know she would want you with her." He conceded

"Thank you Charlie." I said anxiously wanting to see her

"Now don't stay too late. I would hate for you or Alice to get sick."

"Don't worry Charlie, we wont stay too long." Alice informed him

After Charlie left Alice and I headed for the elevator followed by Jacob.

"Go home Jacob Black, you've done enough." I spat out the words with distain as the elevator doors closed on his pained face

"That was a bit harsh don't you think." Alice commented

"No, not at all Alice. That wolf boy will stop at nothing to have Bella for himself, and that can never happen."

We made our way to the CCU in silence and were met by Carlisle at the entrance to the unit.

"I'll take the two of you in, but you must remember not to agitated Bella. She will most likely stay asleep but just in case."

"Thank you Carlisle. How is she doing now?" I asked

"Her fever is down for now, she hasn't had any additional seizures since the reduced fever. Also we went ahead and removed her breathing tube, which was more of a precautionary measure anyway." He updated us on her condition as we made our way to the room.

I looked into the cold white room, seeing my beautiful Bella asleep in the bed. She looked peaceful in her sleep. I looked back at Carlisle; he nodded for me to proceed.

I sat down, picking up her hand. She felt cooler now, but still not back to normal.

"Bella love. It's Edward." I spoke in a whispered tone "I will be right here with you, my love." I brought her hand to my lips and caressed it gently with my lips. I breathed deeply, the air of her scent filling my nostrils.

"Thank god you found her in time Edward." Alice said in a sorrowful tone "I only wish I could have foreseen this clearly. Damn werewolf." She muttered

"This isn't your fault Alice." I said reassuringly

I watched as my angel struggled in her dreams. I wish I could take away her pain as she cried in her sleep. At least now she was responding, reacting to stimuli instead the non-responsive state she had been in. I quietly thanked god for this little miracle.

I was with her all night, and as her fever finally broke I felt relief wash over me. She was out of danger. I stepped out of the room to get the nurse. Once I got her attention, she was on her way to check Bella's vital signs.

The nurse informed me that she would call Dr Cullen and have him come up and examine her. I nodded and waited for Carlisle's arrival.

He came into the room and immediately began checking Bella's pulse; he felt her glands and checked her eyes for a response.

He clicked his light off, and looked to me with a smile. "Everything seems to be returning to normal." He said with a sigh of relief.

"What was wrong with her?" I asked curiously

"I know you don't want to hear it, but right now I'm still waiting for a few of the lab results to come back. But if I had to speculate I would say bacterial pneumonia"

"She will be okay?"

"Yes, Edward. She will recover just perfectly from this." He said the words that calmed me. She would be fine, thank god.

I went back to stroking her forehead. She moved slowly and opened her eyes for the briefest moment.

"Bella!" I called softly to her, but her eyes closed almost as soon as they opened.


End file.
